"I think he can. It's a Peyton Manning situation to me. (Manning is) 36, carving up the league and is someone you're always going to put your poker chips on. That's how I feel about Nash. There's some uncertainty there because of (Nash's) health, but if he can give them a good 25 minutes a game, it's going to make a big difference because he gets people into the positions they need to be in.

"They made each other. Nash made (Mike) D'Antoni and D'Antoni's system helped Nash win two MVPs. But schematically they're still going to have issues because D'Antoni's system needs certain pieces to fuel it. He needs a point guard who can run three or four pick-and-rolls in a 24-second clock. He needs a great roller to the basket. And he needs a stretch-4. And that's why everyone is talking about (Pau) Gasol as the odd man out. They obviously have the point guard in Nash, they have the roller in (Dwight) Howard, but Gasol is not a deep shooter.

"Then the issue becomes, 'Do you tweak the system to bend to the talent?' The answer is probably not. That's his baby. I think we saw in New York that D'Antoni is not going to bend the system. When I've watched the Lakers lately, it's almost like they'll run a post play or two (for Gasol) at the beginning to try to get him going, but then it's 'let's go back to what we really want to do.'

"So if you're asking me are the Lakers going to trade Gasol, I think that's where it's headed. He changed that franchise. He put them over the top. He helped them win two championships and from what I've seen he's a special guy. But do I think that's what they have to do? Yeah."

Interesting write up. Although, I do think we do have a strech 4 in Jamison right now; a temporary solution. Will we have to address that down the line in order to fit the scheme that MDA wants to run? Yes.

However, currently, what we can do is start Jamison and move Pau to the bench. Pau can lead that 2nd unit. That to me would make more sense with the personnel you have right now and gives you the best opportunity to win a championship this year when everybody is back healthy.

^It's really a big jump at the PG position when you're implementing a system that is point guard heavy with pick & rolls, putting everybody in the right position, etc. Duhon has been a pleasant surprise, and I believe surpassed Blake in terms of play on the court.

Nash is a 50/40/90 guy. He's done it four times. He controls the offense, mitigates the turnovers, and is a proven leader. He's flourished under MDA's system. He's going to be a tremendous difference. As we get closer to Christmas, and he gets more healthy I get more excited because I realized even when Brown was the HC that Nash was the key to all this making it work. He still is and it gets even more amplified when you bring in a coach that relies heavily on the PG.

I understand the argument that we shouldn't be relying so much on one player, and we shouldn't nor should MDA. Nevertheless, we are in a situation where I believe if healthy this roster can still win a championship; even with our bad start.

last stand wrote:i think the bigger issue here is we have players who don't know who lincoln was

my best bet is on ebanks (considering his recent awesomeness), morris (because he looks like igor), dwight howard (because it seems hip to pile criticism on him), jordan hill (because MDA is a huge lincoln fan so it'd explain him not playing)

which player was that, this is the failure of american society, this is why american politics is a joke.

of course the people pulling the strings do not want a critical thinking general public, they want a dumbed down population that is infatuated with useless crap like what the next episode of walking dead (or whatever tv show) or the next reality show (like that baby boo or kim kardashian crap) or whats the next new video game or gadget is.

forget the US, forget just western society, as globalized as we are, the human race is gonna go down just like any other super power civilization before us.

it's in the UN doctrine that with future generations they want to control the minds of the world population and sooner or later convince the future generations that math is arbitrary, man made and subject to change. so ini the future 2+2 will equal 5, for example.

I dunno about all that other stuff but I wouldn't blame Pau Gasol for not knowing since he's not from here and he probably doesn't mess with measly $5 bills

The Lakers are starting to see some light at the end of the Steve Nash Injury Tunnel, leading Mike D’Antoni to say there’s a chance his point guard returns to the court at some point during the team’s coming four-game road trip.

Nash, who suffered a non-displaced fracture in his left leg on Oct. 31 at Portland, won’t play in Sunday’s game against Utah at Staples Center.

The veteran has been ramping up work outs with Lakers strength and conditioning coach Tim DiFrancesco of late, much to DiFrancesco’s liking.

“I’m really excited with the progress that he’s feeling and I’m seeing at this point, in certain lower body based exercises that even a week ago were not possible,” said DiFrancesco. “I finally feel like we’re seeing some beams of light at the end of this tunnel, and that’s exciting. Nobody has been more frustrated or wanted to be back on that court than him.”

After Sunday’s shootaround, Nash could be seen breaking a sweat going through agility and strengthening drills with DiFrancesco. His demeanor is starting to pick up.

Nobody is more eager for the Canadian’s return than D’Antoni, who seemed to be trying not to get himself too excited, at least until his PG is actually on the floor.

Nonetheless, real progress has been made, and Nash’s return is certainly more imminent than it appeared even a week earlier.

whenever he returns, i want them to be 10000% sure he can't do further damage by playing on it. i think the team can tread water and make the playoffs without him, but they won't beat anyone in the playoffs without him. get it right.

Doc Brown wrote:Why did that article have to throw in imminent at the end? My psyche is still in shambles from that word.

Good to hear he's making progress.. I think D'antoni's primary reason for getting this job was his potential for getting Nash to play like a star.. No PG is going to look like a star under Phil in the triangle, we know that.. I hope they're not rushing him back..